Our weather is on steroids. For agriculture to succeed, both farmers and governments need to act
Drought of 2021 will break records in many areas for both heat and lack of rainfall
This Opinion piece was written by Ian McCreary, a grain and livestock farmer near Bladworth, Sask.
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The summer of 2021 will once again test the willpower of Prairie farmers.
Hay is scarce to non-existent and turns to dust if you try to bale during the day. Crops emerged well but have withered under extreme heat, high winds and low humidity. Fire risk is ever-present, meaning the water truck needs to be loaded and ready.
The drought of 2021 will break records in many areas for both heat and lack of rainfall.
While farmers agree on the severity of this drought, some tensions remain on the cause. Some say that we have had heat and drought before and this is simply part of the normal cycle. Others will blame every hot day on climate change. Climate science suggests the truth lies in between.
Consider a sports analogy. Before steroids were used in baseball, there were home runs and some were out of the park. However, when steroids came into the game, home run numbers went up and many were hit harder.
So it is with climate change. Not every hot day is caused by climate change, but the science is clear that climate change will make these hot days more intense and more frequent.
Farmers must insist that governments invest more in agriculture to achieve success in an increasingly volatile climate.- Ian McCreary
Modern agriculture has relied on science for almost all of its advancements. Science does not always give us what we want, but it always brings us closer to the truths of our natural systems that we all depend on for a sustainable future.
The same science that says the chemicals we use and the food we grow are safe now must help us mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Action needed on 3 fronts
An appropriate response requires action on at least three levels.
First, farmers in Western Canada will need to continue to improve our resilience.
The most recent Prairie drought of this magnitude was 1988. When we compare crop conditions this year with 1988, the improvements that farmers have made in farming methods are evident.
Tillage has been reduced and continuous cropping has improved soil organic matter. On pastures, grazing rotations have improved, allowing some to recover fully between periods of grazing. This improves the soil's capacity to hold water and more carbon remains in the soil. It is a gain for both the land and the environment.
We now need to build on that experience. Cover cropping can be used to increase the time that living roots are in the soil. The early harvest in 2021 may be a great opportunity to experiment with cover crops if August brings adequate rainfall to germinate newly planted seeds. On forage, more cross fencing and tighter rotations can further improve grasslands and resilience.
Second, agriculture needs to do its part to reduce emissions.
Food processors, international markets and sustained political support will necessitate that we as farmers join virtually every other industry in reducing emissions and improving sustainability. At a minimum this will mean ensuring nitrogen fertilizer use is limited to only the levels required and using cover crops in years like this one where the first crop did not use the fertilizer applied.
We also need to get trees back onto the landscape and protect existing wetlands to sequester carbon, moderate temperatures and slow the winds.
Third, and perhaps most important, farmers need to engage with government to ensure there are appropriate supports and policies for the continued transition to a more resilient, lower emission agriculture.
The next agriculture policy framework will be negotiated beginning this winter. Governments need to set clear targets and support farmers to make the changes outlined above. Business risk management programs must be adapted to ensure that the large public expenditure on these programs is supporting resilience and reduced emissions, as well as protecting farmers from the increased volatility we are seeing.
Farmers must insist that governments invest more in agriculture to achieve success in an increasingly volatile climate.
Too often, ideological and regional differences have delayed agriculture policy in Canada to the point that it is often solving problems of the past. We need to make sure that the agriculture policy framework currently being negotiated addresses the issues we face now and into the foreseeable future.
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